Essential Zen

Well, as Garrison Keelor would say, "It's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone" - in this case, it's been a quiet time in the Rio Grande Valley...quiet, and hot...mid 100's during the day, only cooling off to the low 80's at night, and humid, of course. We've not had rain to speak of in many months. The weeds and grass have all turned brown and the possibility of grass fires has increased.

I spend my days in my camper, out in an area of the RV park I call the Back 40...my camper is the only unit out here, between a hackberry tree and a mesquite tree, up against the fences in a corner. I prefer to leave the AC off, the door and windows open. The camper is rather old and tired, but at least the refrigerator works and keeps my beer cold.

I have my computer, my stereo, and my digital TV, all within arms reach, and the last several days, treated to the marvelous scenes from the Tour de France coverage. The most stunning are the shots from the helicopters of the French, Spanish, Swiss and Italian countryside, villages mountains, lakes, chateaus and old castles. What I most enjoy is one particular helicopter which almost exactly duplicates how I like to fly when lucid. At times, my stomach falls out as the chopper either drops dramatically or rises from ground level.

Since the bicycle race is taking place in France, it is over here by late morning - what to do for the rest of the day? Simple...assuming the power stays on (which of late has not always been the case), hang out on chat, and poke around on various forums, have a late lunch, then when it gets too hot, go down to Kim's unit, turn on the AC, and hopefully, catch a baseball game.

What else is there? Well, it would be enjoyable to gaze at dragonflies, but in the midst of a drought, there aren't any. Instead we have a bumper crop of cockroaches...I prefer gazing at dragonflies.

Very nice... A day in the life of Gonzo.

I have a spider, a rather large Daddy Longlegs (although I'm convinced its a female...I think most spiders in view are females...the smaller versions are the males who frequently get killed after mating, I think) that has established residence in the ceiling of the toilet in my camper. It has been there now for over a month, and has now produced a rather gauzy web that covers the entire ceiling, however, "she" is keeping it high enough so that when I use the toilet, the web doesn't hit me in the head.

I like to think we communicate. She has the place for the vast majority of the time, certainly all night, only interrupted when I use the toilet. When I do, I always look at her, and only once did she move at all when I entered. She is always upside down. I've wondered about living like that...motionless for hours and hours and hours, upside down, occasionally interrupted by some being that comes in and does strange things. Perhaps the spider wonders what the hell its like to be a human, and is glad she is not.